20144 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 77 / Monday, April 23, 2007 / Notices 

• The Measures for Administration of 

Chinese Foreign Contractual 

Distribution Ventures of Audiovisual 

Products. 

It appears that these measures 

prohibit foreign service suppliers 

(including wholly or partially foreignowned or foreign-invested enterprises) 

from engaging at least in certain types 

of distribution of publications and 

audiovisual home entertainment 

products within China. In addition, to 

the extent that some foreign service 

suppliers are allowed to engage in some 

aspects of the distribution of 

publications, there appear to be 

discriminatory requirements concerning 

such suppliers’ registered capital, such 

suppliers’ operating term, and the 

particular publications that such 

suppliers may distribute. Furthermore, 

to the extent that foreign services 

suppliers are permitted to engage in any 

distribution of audiovisual home 

entertainment products, the measures at 

issue appear to impose requirements 

that the service be supplied through a 

form of entity that Chinese persons 

control, or in which Chinese persons 

have a dominant position, or for which 

there is a limitation on the participation 

of foreign capital. These measures 

appear to USTR to be inconsistent with 

China’s obligations under Articles XVI 

and XVII of the General Agreement on 

Trade in Services. 

Public Comment: Requirements for 

Submissions 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written comments concerning 

the issues raised in the dispute. 

Comments should be submitted (I) 

Electronically, to FR0708@ustr.eop.gov, 

with ‘‘China Trading Rights and 

Distribution Services (DS363)’’ in the 

subject line, or (ii) by fax, to Sandy 

McKinzy at (202) 395–3640, with a 

confirmation copy sent electronically to 

the electronic mail address above. 

USTR encourages the submission of 

documents in Adobe PDF format as 

attachments to an electronic mail. 

Interested persons who make 

submissions by electronic mail should 

not provide separate cover letters; 

information that might appear in a cover 

letter should be included in the 

submission itself. Similarly, to the 

extent possible, any attachments to the 

submission should be included in the 

same file as the submission itself, and 

not as separate files. 

Comments must be in English. A 

person requesting that information 

contained in a comment submitted by 

that person be treated as confidential 

business information must certify that 

such information is business 

confidential and would not customarily 

be released to the public by the 

commenter. Confidential business 

information must be clearly designated 

as such and ‘‘BUSINESS 

CONFIDENTIAL’’ must be marked at the 

top and bottom of the cover page and 

each succeeding page. Persons who 

submit confidential business 

information are encouraged also to 

provide a non-confidential summary of 

the information. 

Information or advice contained in a 

comment submitted, other than business 

confidential information, may be 

determined by USTR to be confidential 

in accordance with section 135(g)(2) of 

the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 

2155(g)(2)). If the submitter believes that 

information or advice may qualify as 

such, the submitter—

(1) Must clearly so designate the 

information or advice; 

(2) Must clearly mark the material as 

‘‘SUBMITTED IN CONFIDENCE’’ at the 

top and bottom of the cover page and 

each succeeding page; and 

(3) Is encouraged to provide a nonconfidential summary of the 

information or advice. 

Pursuant to section 127(e) of the 

URAA (19 U.S.C. 3537(e)), USTR will 

maintain a file on this dispute 

settlement proceeding, accessible to the 

public, in the USTR Reading Room, 

which is located at 1724 F Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20508. The public file 

will include non-confidential comments 

received by USTR from the public with 

respect to the dispute; if a dispute 

settlement panel is convened or in the 

event of an appeal from such a panel, 

the U.S. submissions; the submissions, 

or non-confidential summaries of 

submissions, received from other 

participants in the dispute; the report of 

the panel; and, if applicable, the report 

of the Appellate Body. The USTR 

Reading Room is open to the public, by 

appointment only, from 10 a.m. to noon 

and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through 

Friday. An appointment to review the 

public file (Docket WTO/DS–363, China 

Trading Rights and Distribution 

Services Dispute) may be made by 

calling the USTR Reading Room at (202) 

395–6186. 

Daniel Brinza, 

Assistant United States Trade Representative 

for Monitoring and Enforcement. 

[FR Doc. E7–7606 Filed 4–20–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3190–W7–P 

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

[Docket No. WTO/DS–362] 

WTO Dispute Settlement Proceeding 

Regarding China—Measures Affecting 

the Protection and Enforcement of 

Intellectual Property Rights 

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative. 

ACTION: Notice; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Office of the United 

States Trade Representative (USTR) is 

providing notice that on April 10, 2007, 

in accordance with the Marrakesh 

Agreement Establishing the World 

Trade Organization (WTO Agreement), 

the United States requested 

consultations with respect to certain 

measures pertaining to the protection 

and enforcement of intellectual property 

rights in China. That request may be 

found at http://www.wto.org contained 

in a document designated as WT/ 

DS362/1. USTR invites written 

comments from the public concerning 

the issues raised in this dispute. 

DATES: Although USTR will accept any 

comments received during the course of 

the consultations, comments should be 

submitted on or before May 7, 2007 to 

be assured of timely consideration by 

USTR. 

ADDRESSES: Comments should be 

submitted (i) Electronically, to 

FR0707@ustr.eop.gov, with ‘‘China IPR 

Protection and Enforcement (DS362)’’ in 

the subject line, or (ii) by fax, to Sandy 

McKinzy at (202) 395–3640, with a 

confirmation copy sent electronically to 

the electronic mail address above, in 

accordance with the requirements for 

submission set out below. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Steven F. Fabry, Associate General 

Counsel, Office of the United States 

Trade Representative, 600 17th Street, 

NW., Washington, DC, (202) 395–3150. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

127(b) of the Uruguay Round 

Agreements Act (URAA) (19 U.S.C. 

3537(b)(1)) requires that notice and 

opportunity for comment be provided 

after the United States submits or 

receives a request for the establishment 

of a WTO dispute settlement panel. In 

an effort to provide additional 

opportunity for comment, USTR is 

providing notice that consultations have 

been requested pursuant to the WTO 

Understanding on Rules and Procedures 

Governing the Settlement of Disputes 

(‘‘DSU’’). If such consultations should 

fail to resolve the matter and a dispute 

settlement panel is established pursuant 

to the DSU, such panel, which would 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 77 / Monday, April 23, 2007 / Notices 20145 

hold its meetings in Geneva, 

Switzerland, would be expected to issue 

a report on its findings and 

recommendations within nine months 

after it is established. 

Major Issues Raised by the United 

States 

On April 10, 2007, the United States 

requested consultations with China with 

respect to certain measures pertaining to 

the protection and enforcement of 

intellectual property rights in China. 

The first matter on which the United 

States has requested consultations 

concerns the thresholds that must be 

met in order for certain acts of 

trademark counterfeiting and copyright 

piracy to be subject to criminal 

procedures and penalties. In this regard, 

the measures at issue include the 

following, as well as any amendments 

and related or implementing measures: 

the Criminal Law of the People’s 

Republic of China, in particular Articles 

213, 214, 215, 217, 218, and 220; and 

two interpretations by the Supreme 

People’s Court and the Supreme 

People’s Procuratorate on several issues 

of concrete application of law in 

handling criminal cases of infringing 

intellectual property (one adopted on 

November 2, 2004, and the other 

adopted on April 4, 2007). It appears 

that, because of these measures, certain 

acts of trademark counterfeiting and 

copyright piracy occurring on a 

commercial scale in China are not 

subject to criminal procedures and 

penalties in China. These measure 

appear to USTR to be inconsistent with 

China’s obligations under Articles 41.1 

and 61 of the Agreement on TradeRelated Aspects of Intellectual Property 

Rights (‘‘TRIPS Agreement’’). 

The second matter on which the 

United States has requested 

consultations concerns goods that 

infringe intellectual property rights that 

are confiscated by Chinese customs 

authorities, in particular the disposal of 

such goods following removal of their 

infringing features. In this regard, the 

measures at issue include the following, 

as well as any amendments and related 

or implementing measures: the 

Regulations of the People’s Republic of 

China for Customs Protection of 

Intellectual Property Rights, in 

particular Chapter 4 thereof, and the 

Implementing Measures of Customs of 

the People’s Republic of China for the 

Regulations of the People’s Republic of 

China on Customs Protection of 

Intellectual Property Rights, in 

particular Chapter 5 thereof. It appears 

that, because of these measures, the 

customs authorities often appear to be 

required to give priority to options for 

disposal of goods that infringe 

intellectual property rights that would 

allow such goods to enter the channels 

of commerce (for instance, through 

auctioning the goods after removing 

their infringing features). The 

requirement that infringing goods be 

released into the channels of commerce 

under the circumstances set forth in the 

measures at issue appears to USTR to be 

inconsistent with China’s obligations 

under Articles 46 and 59 of the TRIPS 

Agreement. 

The third matter on which the United 

States has requested consultations 

concerns the denial of copyright and 

related rights protection and 

enforcement to creative works of 

authorship, sound recordings, and 

performances that have not been 

authorized for publication or 

distribution within China. For example, 

it appears that works that are required 

to undergo censorship review (or other 

forms of pre-publication or predistribution review) before entering the 

Chinese market are not protected by 

copyright before the review is complete 

and publication and distribution within 

China has been authorized. In this 

regard, the measures at issue include the 

following, as well as any amendments 

and related or implementing measures: 

• The Copyright Law, in particular 

Article 4; 

• The Criminal Law, the Regulations 

on the Administration of Publishing 

Industry, the Regulations on the 

Administration of Broadcasting, the 

Regulations on the Administration of 

Audiovisual Products, the Regulations 

on the Administration of films, and the 

Regulations on the Administration of 

Telecommunication; 

• The Administrative Regulations on 

Audiovisual Products; 

• The Administrative Regulation on 

Publishing; 

• The Administrative Regulations on 

Electronic Publications; 

• The Measures for the 

Administration of Import of Audio and 

Video Products; 

• The Procedures for Examination 

and Approval for Publishing Finished 

Electronic Publication Items Licensed 

by a Foreign Copyright Owner; 

• The Procedures for Examination 

and Approval of Importation of 

Finished Electronic Publication Items 

by Electronic Publication Importation 

Entities; 

• The Procedures for Recording of 

Imported Publications; 

• The Interim Regulations on Internet 

Culture Administration; and 

• The Several Opinions on the 

Development and Regulation of 

Network Music. 

It appears that, because of the 

Copyright Law, authors of works whose 

publication or distribution has not been 

authorized (and whose publication or 

distribution is therefore prohibited) 

appear not to enjoy the minimum 

standards of protection specially 

granted by the Berne Convention for the 

Protection of Literary and Artistic 

Works (1971) (the ‘‘Berne Convention’’) 

in respect of those works (and may 

never enjoy such protection if the work 

is not authorized, or is not authorized 

for distribution or publication in the 

form as submitted for review). In 

addition, the rights of authors of works 

whose publication or distribution is 

required to undergo pre-publication or 

pre-distribution review appear to be 

subject to the formality of successful 

conclusion of such review. The 

foregoing appears to USTR to be 

inconsistent with China’s obligations 

under Articles 9.1 and 41.1 of the TRIPS 

Agreement. Furthermore, to the extent 

that the Copyright Law also denies the 

protection of certain rights to performers 

and producers of sound recordings 

during the period of any pre-publication 

or pre-distribution prohibition, the 

Copyright Law appears to be 

inconsistent with China’s obligations 

under Articles 14 and 41.1 of the TRIPS 

Agreement. 

In addition, it appears that the 

measures at issue provide different predistribution and pre-authorization 

review processes for Chinese nationals’

works, performances (or their fixations) 

and sound recordings than for foreign 

nationals’ works, performances (or their 

fixations) and sound recordings. To the 

extent that these different processes, 

taken together with Article 4 of the 

Copyright Law, result in earlier or 

otherwise more favorable protection or 

enforcement of copyright or related 

rights for Chinese authors’ works, 

Chinese performers’ performances (or 

their fixations) and Chinese producers’

sound recordings than for foreign 

authors’ works, foreign performers’

performances (or their fixations) and 

foreign producers’ sound recordings, the 

measures at issue appear to be 

inconsistent with China’s obligations 

under TRIPS Agreement Articles 3.1, 9.1 

and 41.1. 

The fourth matter on which the 

United States has requested 

consultations concerns the scope of 

coverage of criminal procedures and 

penalties for unauthorized reproduction 

or unauthorized distribution of 

copyrighted works. In particular, it 

appears that unauthorized reproduction 

of copyrighted works by itself—that is, 

unauthorized reproduction that is not 

accompanied by unauthorized 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
20146 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 77 / Monday, April 23, 2007 / Notices 

distribution—may not be subject to 

criminal procedures and penalties. 

Likewise, it appears that unauthorized 

distribution of copyrighted works by 

itself—that is, unauthorized distribution 

that is not accompanied by 

unauthorized reproduction—may not be 

subject to criminal procedures and 

penalties. In this regard, the measures at 

issue include the Criminal Law, in 

particular Article 217, as well as any 

amendments, related measures, or 

implementing measures. To the extent 

that wilful copyright piracy on a 

commercial scale that consists of 

unauthorized reproduction—but not 

unauthorized distribution—of 

copyrighted works, and vice versa, may 

not be subject to criminal procedures 

and penalties under the law of China, 

this would appear to USTR to be 

inconsistent with China’s obligations 

under Articles 41.1 and 61 of the TRIPS 

Agreement. 

Public Comment: Requirements for 

Submissions 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written comments concerning 

the issues raised in the dispute. 

Comments should be submitted (I) 

Electronically, to FR0707@ustr.eop.gov, 

with ‘‘China IPR Protection and 

Enforcement (DS362)’’ in the subject 

line, or (ii) by fax, to Sandy McKinzy at 

(202) 395–3640, with a confirmation 

copy sent electronically to the electronic 

mail address above. 

USTR encourages the submission of 

documents in Adobe PDF format as 

attachments to an electronic mail. 

Interested persons who make 

submissions by electronic mail should 

not provide separate cover letters; 

information that might appear in a cover 

letter should be included in the 

submission itself. Similarly, to the 

extent possible, any attachments to the 

submission should be included in the 

same file as the submission itself, and 

not as separate files. 

Comments must be in English. A 

person requesting that information 

contained in a comment submitted by 

that person be treated as confidential 

business information must certify that 

such information is business 

confidential and would not customarily 

be released to the public by the 

commenter. Confidential business 

information must be clearly designated 

as such and ‘‘BUSINESS 

CONFIDENTIAL’’ must be marked at the 

top and bottom of the cover page and 

each succeeding page. Persons who 

submit confidential business 

information are encouraged also to 

provide a non-confidential summary of 

the information. 

Information or advice contained in a 

comment submitted, other than business 

confidential information, may be 

determined by USTR to be confidential 

in accordance with section 135(g)(2) of 

the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 

2155(g)(2)). If the submitter believes that 

information or advice may qualify as 

such, the submitter—

(1) Must clearly so designate the 

information or advice; 

(2) Must clearly mark the material as 

‘‘SUBMITTED IN CONFIDENCE’’ at the 

top and bottom of the cover page and 

each succeeding page; and 

(3) Is encouraged to provide a nonconfidential summary of the 

information or advice. 

Pursuant to section 127(e) of the 

URAA (19 U.S.C. 3537(e)), USTR will 

maintain a file on this dispute 

settlement proceeding, accessible to the 

public, in the USTR Reading Room, 

which is located at 1724 F Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20508. The public file 

will include non-confidential comments 

received by USTR from the public with 

respect to the dispute; if a dispute 

settlement panel is convened or in the 

event of an appeal from such a panel, 

the U.S. submissions; the submissions, 

or non-confidential summaries of 

submissions, received from other 

participants in the dispute; the report of 

the panel; and, if applicable, the report 

of the Appellate Body. The USTR 

Reading Room is open to the public, by 

appointment only, from 10:00 a.m. to 

noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday 

through Friday. An appointment to 

review the public file (Docket WTO/DS–

362, China IPR Protection and 

Enforcement Dispute) may be made by 

calling the USTR Reading Room at (202) 

395–6186. 

Daniel Brinza, 

Assistant United States Trade Representative 

for Monitoring and Enforcement. 

[FR Doc. E7–7612 Filed 4–20–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3190–W7–P 

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL 

MANAGEMENT 

Excepted Service 

AGENCY: Office of Personnel 

Management (OPM). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This gives notice of OPM 

decisions granting authority to make 

appointments under Schedules A, B, 

and C in the excepted service as 

required by 5 CFR 6.6 and 213.103. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: C. 

Penn, Executive Resources Services 

Group, Center for Human Resources, 

Division for Human Capital Leadership 

and Merit System Accountability, 202–

606–2246. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Appearing 

in the listing below are the individual 

authorities established under Schedules 

A, B, and C between March 1, 2007, and 

March 31, 2007. Future notices will be 

published on the fourth Tuesday of each 

month, or as soon as possible thereafter. 

A consolidated listing of all authorities 

as of June 30 is published each year. 

Schedule A 

Section 213.3170 Millennium 

Challenge Corporation 

(a) All positions established to create 

the Millennium Challenge Corporation. 

No new appointments may be made 

under this authority after September 30, 

2007. Effective April 1, 2007. 

Schedule B 

No Schedule B appointments were 

approved for March 2007. 

Schedule C 

The following Schedule C 

appointments were approved during 

March 2007. 

Section 213.3303 Executive Office of 

the President 

Office of Science and Technology Policy 

TSGS60046 Assistant Director for 

Telecommunications and Information 

Technology to the Chief of Staff and 

General Counsel. Effective March 09, 

2007. 

TSGS60047 Deputy Chief of Staff and 

Associate General Counsel to the 

Chief of Staff and General Counsel. 

Effective March 09, 2007. 

Office of National Drug Control Policy 

QQGS70004 Public Affairs Specialist 

(Media Campaign) to the Associate 

Director for Public Affairs. Effective 

March 09, 2007. 

QQGS70005 Confidential Assistant to 

the Deputy Director for Supply 

Reduction. Effective March 13, 2007. 

Section 213.3304 Department of State 

DSGS61217 Public Affairs Specialist 

to the Assistant Secretary for Public 

Affairs. Effective March 06, 2007. 

DSGS61214 Staff Assistant to the 

Director, Policy Planning Staff. 

Effective March 09, 2007. 

DSGS61220 Senior Advisor to the 

Assistant Secretary Oceans, 

International Environment and 

Science Affairs. Effective March 16, 

2007. 

DSGS61219 Foreign Affairs Officer to 

the Assistant Secretary. Effective 

March 20, 2007. 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES